Soccer World North of Scotland Amateur Cup Fourth Round at Kincorth Academy on 23rd March
Report by Andy McLaren
Kincorth veteran Tony Livingstone hopes the AAFA will extend the amateur football season into the summer to cope with his sides’ backlog of fixtures.
The former Premier Division champions have only played six league games, the lowest amount in all six amateur leagues.
Kincorth are seven matches behind table leaders Cove and Tony, who has been with the Aberdeen side for 17 seasons, admits he is frustrated by the lack of games.
He said: “If we reach a few cup finals, we could be looking at the possibility of having to play 28 matches before the season is over.
“The squad can’t be expected to play all those games before the end of May so I think an extension to the season will have to be made.
“It’s unbelievable how we have only managed to play six league games and we are going to find it hard to squeeze everything in.
“Two years ago, we missed twelve weeks of the season because of bad weather but this season has been the worst ever.
“I’m going to try to play on for another three seasons which would take me up to my 20th year at Kincorth.
“There are still some great sides in amateur football but I think the standard has gone down slightly since I first started.”
The 35-year-old has won the Premier Division three times and has also lifted the North of Scotland Amateur Cup and the Aberdeen FC Trophy.
The Aberdeen side, who were relegated to Division One (North) in 2008, are currently second bottom of the Premier Division but Tony is confident his side will start to climb the league table.
He said: “We have a lot of guys in the squad who work offshore so it can be a struggle to get results when they are away.
“The highest point of my career was winning the North of Scotland Amateur cup in 2011.
“We struggled at the start of the season because we had a poor pre-season.
“I think the league is beyond us now as it looks to be between Cove Thistle and Sportsmans but it would be great to win a cup.”
Tony and teammate Mark Hutchins have formed a formidable partnership this season, scoring over 25 goals together.
And the attacker reckons Hutchins is one of the best players in amateur football.
He added: “In my opinion, Mark is the main player for Kincorth and the amount of goals he has scored is simply unbelievable.
“He should really be playing at a higher level but he always plays for the Kincorth jersey.
“I hope he stays at Kincorth for a few more years because I don’t know where we would be without him.
“I would love to stay at the club when my playing days are over and I would definitely help coach the up and coming guys at the club.”
Meanwhile, Kincorth progressed to the fifth round of the North of Scotland Cup with a 7-2 win over local rivals Torry United.
The Premier Division side opened the scoring on 10 minutes when Gavin Elphinstone calmly slotted the ball past Stuart Smith from Livingstone’s low cross.
Kincorth were well organised at the back and looking to break quickly down the flanks.
Referee Alex Lovie awarded the home side a penalty when Smith clipped Kincorth’s Mark Hutchins on his way to goal.
Smith redeemed himself by stretching to his right to tip Hutchins’ spot-kick around the post.
Hutchins made up for his earlier miss with a powerful shot that flashed past Smith to make it 2-0 to Kincorth after 20 minutes.
He made it 3-0 5 minutes later when a mix up between Smith and his defence gifted the striker with an easy finish into an empty net.
Hutchins continued his impressive goalscoring run by slotting the ball past the goalkeeper from 10 yards to secure his hat-trick.
Half-time: 4 – 0
Torry remained on the back foot after the break when James Smith’s audacious lob from 30 yards looped over the goalkeeper to make it 5-0 on 50 minutes.
Torry, who are currently ninth in Division Two (North), grabbed a consolation goal when Kincorth’s Gavin Elphinstone deflected a loose ball into the back of his own net.
Mark Hutchins scored his fourth goal of the match when he curled his shot around the goalkeeper to make it 6-1.
Livingstone was involved in his side’s seventh goal when he expertly chipped the ball into the net from 15 yards on 80 minutes.
Torry continued to work hard despite the scoreline and were rewarded when Norman Rose blasted the ball past Clarke McLennan to make it 7-2 moments before full-time.
Full Time: 7 – 2
